Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $39.00. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 671,039 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the previous session’s volume of 1,227,281 shares.The stock last traded at $35.72 and had previously closed at $35.64.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WES. Citigroup downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lisa A. Stewart acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,071,555.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 32,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,111,510.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of Western Midstream Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WES. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 13.0% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 33,519,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $912,737,000 after buying an additional 3,855,558 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,746,835 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $564,936,000 after acquiring an additional 2,520,712 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,280,595 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $183,770,000 after purchasing an additional 802,709 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,571,428 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $124,480,000 after purchasing an additional 622,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,165,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $148,095,000 after purchasing an additional 895,715 shares in the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 2.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $34.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.82.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.58% and a net margin of 32.72%. The firm had revenue of $858.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $850.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.875 per share. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.83%. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is presently 134.62%.

About Western Midstream Partners

Western Midstream Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a midstream energy company primarily in the United States. It is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and transporting natural gas; gathering, stabilizing, and transporting condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil; and gathering and disposing produced water.